


Helheim's Gate

by InquisitiveTea



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (2010), How to Train Your Dragon - All Media Types
Genre: Dragons, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Other, POV First Person, Present Tense, Vikings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-09
Updated: 2010-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 00:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InquisitiveTea/pseuds/InquisitiveTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is wrong with Toothless. Hiccup will go to Hel and back to fix it. Told with a twist on Norse mythology.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first part went unbeta-ed so please be kind. Also, I wasn't sure if the Viking houses have windows, but I was thinking at least there might be holes in the walls that they close up with wooden panes...

Berk. My home. The home of my father, Stoick the Vast, our chieftain. Home of Astrid, the Viking of my dreams. And, now, home of Toothless, my dragon. There are a lot of other dragons here, too, but right now I'm worried about Toothless.

We seem to be having some... issues.

You see, Toothless hasn't quite gotten used to life in the village. He's not a "village dragon," if you will. Most dragons aren't to start with, I'll admit, but everyone else seem to be getting their dragons under control pretty easily.

I got to Toothless way before the others got their dragons. So what's the problem?

Scenario One: Toothless and I will be walking from point A to point B through the village and he'll get distracted with chasing sheep from the field.

Scenario Two: Toothless will, in fact, steal sweets from little girls like Mumbles and Lung.

Scenario Three: Toothless and my dad. Gods know that is enough said.

Like, say, now.

"Hiccup!"

Here it comes. And now he's knocked down some shields. And now he's in the room.

"Hiccup, your dragon--" he starts.

"The one who saved my life?" I reply, "And the lives of pretty much everyone on this island?"

"Your dragon," Dad says a little quieter, which isn't necessarily a good thing, "keeps driving off the sheep."

"Yeah," I say. I attempt a smile but I feel like my teeth are naked. "We're working?... On that?"

Dad briefly presses the heel of his hand against the bridge of his nose. "None of the other dragons chase the sheep," he says slowly. "Why does yours?"

"He's just," I start, what is there to say? "He's just not used to this kind of life. You've got to understand: he's a Night Fury. He never stole food during raids and he was never even seen until I caught him. He's pretty much the only one of his kind here. He's just fundamentally different from the other dragons in ways we can't possibly understand."

"You've been training it a lot longer than the other dragons," Dad points out.

"That's such a great point," I reply, "But Dad you have to also realize that he can't fly on his own. So he could be acting out from being stuck on land more than the other dragons."

Dad rolls his eyes. "Don't start going on about that beast's feelings."

"Would you please call him Toothless?" I say, "You could try to make him feel more welcome."

"It stays in our home," Dad says, "It couldn't possibly be more welcome."

"You could just pet him some time. Or maybe even scratch his neck."

Dad stares at me.

"Right. Displays of affection from the Chieftain, not happening. Got it."

"The dragon doesn't need me to touch it," Dad says, "Just find out what's wrong with it and fix it."

"But I really don't know what's wrong with him, Dad."

"You're smart. This is your kind of problem. Figure something out. For the good of us all. Deal?"

I exhale deeply. "I'm not feeling much of an exchange here."

"Deal," he repeats, no longer a question.

My shoulders sag. "Deal."

"Good." He glances around. "What are you doing in here anyway? It's a bit late to be working."

"I don't know." I look around too and lift my hands. Then I drop them. "I'm just so used to coming here during my free time. It's like second nature."

"Maybe instead of coming in here, you should be taking the dragon out to fly."

"Maybe." But it's night now, and it's kind of really cold. Not that I've ever let that keep me from flying before. "So... Talk over?"

"Get on to whatever you were doing," he says, waving his hand. "I'll see you back at the house."

"Good night, Dad," I say. He turns and leaves. Something crashes onto the ground outside. When the noises stop, I know he's gone and I exhale again. What am I going to do about Toothless?

He's the only Night Fury we know of and we barely know anything about him. Even with everything I learned during Dragon Training. While I think about him, I start to doodle in my notebook and before long I've got a Night Fury on the page, with a few tweaks planned for the saddle.

Then I hear it.

A girl screaming.

Could that be Astrid? With my heart in my throat I scramble out of the room and trip over the shields on the ground. After falling on my face, I kick the shields with my peg leg and get back up and follow the sound of the screams.

"Astrid?!" I call out. I move as quickly as I can through the village. Despite some practice, this isn't actually very fast.

The screams transform into words: "Give! It! Back!"

Not Astrid. I turn and hurry behind a house. "Mumbles?!"

"Give it back, you stupid old dragon!"

"Mumbles and--Toothless? What are you doing out here?"

Toothless sits up on his haunches and stares at me with his big, innocent eyes. Which of course means he's not innocent at all.

Mumbles has her hands bunched up in fists as she hops around angrily. She kind of reminds me of an angry Terrible Terror. You have to admit she's got the same attitude, trying to take on Toothless when she's only a small ten-year-old.

"What is going on?" I ask.

Mumbles tugs angrily on her brown pigtails and then one hand shoots out so she can point at Toothless. "Your monster took my sugar crystal!"

"Toothless," I say.

Toothless puckers his lips and his tongue darts out. Well, at least he enjoyed it.

"Give it back!" Mumbles demands.

"Mumbles, I don't think you want it back anymore."

She leaps at me, grabs the front of my shirt and tugs me down to her level. "Make him. Give it. Back."

I stare back at her, unfazed. "Toothless," I say flatly, "Give it back."

Toothless grunts.

"Come on, buddy," I urge him with no emotion.

Toothless goes down on all fours and pushes his head between Mumbles and me. Then he hacks up Mumbles's sugar crystal. Only now it's partially dissolved and comes up as a small hail of sugar bits all over Mumbles' blue shirt.

She screams again. Finally, she lets me go. Then, "Hiccup!"

"You asked for it back," I say, just as Toothless sits on his haunches again. There are a few small specks of sugar on my sleeve, so I brush them off. What I hear next makes me feel better:

"What is all of this screaming about?"

Now that's Astrid.

I open my mouth to speak, but somehow Mumbles beats me to it.

"Astriiiiid!" Mumbles wails, "Look what Hiccup and his dragon did to me!"

Astrid looks at Mumbles. Then she looks at Toothless. Then she looks at me. "What is that on your shirt?" she asks Mumbles.

"Sugar," Mumbles answers haughtily.

"Did you ask for it?" she asks Mumbles.

Mumbles stamps her foot. "Not like this!"

"But you asked for it," Astrid says.

"Maybe," Mumbles admits.

"Then they did nothing wrong," Astrid says.

"Thank you," I tell Astrid. "Mumbles, let's get you back to your house. Your mom's probably wondering about you."

Mumbles turns to go, then stops and asks, "Can I ride a dragon tomorrow?"

"You're still too young to ride," I tell her.

"Everyone else gets to ride a dragon," Mumbles says.

"Lung doesn't ride a dragon."

"Lung's only nine! I'm ten. Well, tomorrow I'll be eleven. I should get to ride a dragon."

I share a look with Astrid.

"We'll see how things go," I say, just as Astrid says:

"Wait until you're older."

I look to Astrid again.

She lifts her eyebrows in expectation.

"Hiccup said I could ride a dragon!" Mumbles says, pointing at me. "You heard him!"

"He didn't mean that," Astrid counters quickly, "He's half-insane, you can't trust what he says."

"Thank you for your support," I say to her.

"Dragon Training first," Astrid tells Mumbles, "Then dragon flying."

After we get Mumbles back to her house, Astrid leans against the closed door and crosses her arms. "Would you really let her ride a dragon?" she asks.

"She could ride with me," I reply.

"Only if she remembers to hold on." She gives Toothless a gentle punch on the ear.

Toothless nudges Astrid's side with his snout.

"So, I've been thinking," I say.

"Yeah?"

"You haven't... well. You haven't kissed me in a while."

"You haven't done anything crazy in a while," she replies easily.

"So, crazy then? That's the criterion? Good to know."

"Don't tell me you're actually planning something."

"No, no. Not yet. I've got to figure out what to do with Toothless first."

Upon hearing his name, he purrs and nudges my hand with his snout. I rub his head. His scales are cold, but I like the feeling on my palm.

"The sheep?" Astrid says.

"Yeah. That and everything else."

"You have to admit, it would be weird if people weren't always complaining about you," she says. "You've got to stick out somehow. It's kind of your thing, you know?"

"Doesn't it count that we risked our lives to save them?"

"Not everyday," she says with a smirk.

I shake my head and rub my eye with my palm. "I'll just have to work something out."

"That's also your thing," she says. "You can help him," she gestures to Toothless, "I trust you."

"... Thanks."

Astrid reaches out and I almost flinch. Instead of punching me, she touches my arm. "We all trust you, Hiccup," she whispers. Then she's so close to me, I can feel the warmth of her breath. I hold mine, but then she pulls away and I let the air out. "Good night," she says, turning to leave.

"Good night," I say.

I look at Toothless, who is staring right back at me with a blank expression. "Let's go home," I tell him. "I'll think about this more tomorrow."

Toothless grunts and drops down on the ground, blocking my way.

"Hey--Toothless, come on." I start to go around him, but he crawls up and puts himself in my path again. "Toothless."

He lifts his hind quarters and pushes himself forward yet again.

"Fine." I push myself up onto his back and straddle him. "Happy now?"

He looks back at me and nods before he darts through the village.

On the way back to the house, we pass Ruffnut and Tuffnut struggling with their Zippleback. Ruffnut is chasing down its heads as they swing around to avoid her. Meanwhile, Tuffnut is standing at the base of its necks and holding up two chicken legs.

"Idiot, it doesn't want the bones!" Ruffnut yells at Tuffnut.

"It always eats the bones," Tuffnut says, "It swallows these things whole."

"I told you, you have to mash it up first," Ruffnut insists. "Oh, hey Hiccup."

"Hiccup," Tuffnut says to me.

"Toothless, stop a sec," I say. Toothless comes to a halt. "Are you guys having trouble feeding your dragon?"

"Trouble?" Tuffnut says, "No. Someone just doesn't know what it likes to eat."

"It doesn't want the stupid bones," Ruffnut says harshly.

"I know how to take care of my own dragon!" Tuffnut replies, charging at her.

"It's not your dragon, it's my dragon!" Ruffnut says, charging right back at him.

They both growl as their heads bump up against each other.

"We'll just leave you two alone," I say. I pat Toothless and whisper, "Let's go."

We hurry off to the house. When we return, Dad is already upstairs in his room doing whatever Chieftains do in their free time. I stand next to the fireplace as I change into my sleep clothes. I'm still sleeping on the first floor of the house because the stairs have been giving me problems. Toothless sits at the foot of the bed and looks at me expectantly.

"Time to sleep," I tell him. "Good night, Toothless." I scratch his neck a little and climb into bed.

I must be exhausted because I don't toss and turn like I have the past few nights. Instead, I'm impelled right into the cold cave of my recent dreams, riding on Toothless over the path of a thin, fast-flowing river. "Where are we?" I ask him, but he just keeps flying. A woman whispers in my ear, _Come home. Come home to me, my Darling._ A hound the size of my house growls and barks at us from below. He seems to be standing guard at a gate that we easily fly over.

_Come back to me_, the woman whispers. _Come back to me._

Then something must happen to the artificial tail fin because we start to drop down, just past the gate. Somehow, we are separated as we fall. "Toothless!" I yell. "Toothless watch out!"

I wake up in a sweat just as I hit the ground. It takes me a second to realize I'm staring at the ceiling. That is the first time in the dreams we have ever gone past the gate.

I hear a soft groan near the window and when I turn to look, Toothless is there with one paw on the wooden pane.

"Toothless," I whisper, sitting up. "What is it?"

He groans again and looks back at me. His eyes are so sad.

"Come here," I say as I hold out my hand. He pads over to me slowly and puts his front paws on the bed so he can snuggle up against my side. "Hey, buddy. What's wrong?" I put my forehead against his. "We'll go flying again tomorrow, okay?"

He sighs and closes his eyes.

_If only that were the problem._

I glance at the closed window and I wonder what's out there that I don't know about; and I wish that Toothless could tell me.


	2. Chapter 2

"She's a girl!" Fishlegs shouts outside. "Hiccup, she's a girl!"

"Wha...?" I mutter, sitting up in bed, "Fishlegs? What?" I'm exhausted, like I've only been half-asleep all night.

Toothless is awake. He stands at my bedside, staring at the door with his head tilted. I get up from the bed and go to the front door, where Fishlegs is waiting.

"She's a girl!" he says again, a huge grin on his face.

"Who's a girl?" I mumble, pulling on a green shirt. "What are you talking about?"

"Come and look!" Fishlegs tugs on my sleeve and pulls me outside. "I was going to try to bring one, but she's being really protective of them. I guess I can understand that. I mean, if I take it out of its incubation, that might lower its stats."

"Fishlegs, seriously, what are you talking about?"

"Look!" he says, stopping and pointing. I step around him and follow the path of his finger to the Gronckle curled up over a nest made of twigs and branches half-buried in the ground.

I take a few steps closer and peer under the dragon's leg.

"Eggs?" I ask.

"Yeah!" Fishlegs replies. "My Gronckle's a girl! I thought she was a boy all this time."

Well, it's not as if we know how to tell these things. Dragons aren't so… er... obvious... as humans.

"That's... new," I say, scratching my head, "So... I guess she mated." I look to Fishlegs. "Do you know who the father is?"

Fishlegs opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. Finally he says, "I... don't."

"You haven't seen any other dragons hanging around her or anything?"

He presses his lips together and shakes his head.

"He's got to be around here somewhere." I feel something nudge my right knee. "Toothless. That Gronckle's going to have babies." I point to the nest.

Toothless eyes the nest for a good minute, then he turns away and leaves.

"What--Toothless?" I walk after him. "Fishlegs, I'll be back."

"Sure."

Toothless stalks past Lung, who's holding an apple in her hand. She takes one look at him and scowls as she holds the apple behind her back.

Toothless just keeps on walking.

Lung looks surprised. "Is something wrong with your dragon? Did you break it?"

"I did not break my dragon," I assure her as I follow Toothless.

"Toothless," I say, "Hey. Hey! Stop."

He stops, but he doesn't turn around.

"What is wrong with you?" I say as I reach his head. I lean forward so that I can peer into one of his large eyes.

He keeps his gaze averted, but I know he's listening. His ears are perked up.

"Are you... jealous?" I ask him.

He snuffles.

"You're not jealous. You're... angry about something?"

He looks at me like I'm an idiot.

"Okay, I'm stupid," I say, "Look, I don't understand you. You have to help me out here."

He lowers himself to the ground and jerks his head back.

"You want to fly? Now? We haven't even had breakfast."

He jerks his head back again.

"Okay." I push myself up onto his back. Toothless extends his wings, but just before he jumps off the ground, someone yells out:

"Hold on there!"

"Hold on, buddy," I say, patting Toothless's neck. Then, "Yes, Gobber?"

"Just where do you think you're going?" Gobber says, approaching fast from the right. "You've got saddles to make and Vikings to train!" I consider asking him how he moves so fast with a pegleg, but he'd probably just tell me "I just do" again.

"Toothless has some... business he needs to handle," I explain. "... I think."

"You think?" Gobber asks, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't know. He needs to fly, so we're going to fly."

"Make sure it doesn't chase off the sheep. We still haven't found four from the last time."

 "I know, I know."

"How long will you be?"

"I have no idea where we're going," I say.

"You're just trusting it?"

"I'm trusting him," I say with confidence. "Anyone else have a problem with that?" I ask louder, looking around. Two men carrying baskets of fish glance at me, but don't respond.

"Seems not," Gobber admits.

"I thought so," I said.

"Hiccup!" Mumbles yells from somewhere. I look back to find her running toward us. "Hiccup, are you going flying?"

"Happy birthday, Mumbles," I call down as she runs to where Gobber's standing. Gobber also wishes her a happy birthday.

"Are you going flying?" Mumbles asks me again.

"Yes I am," I inform her.

"Can I come too?"

"No you can't," Gobber says, patting her back with his hand.

"But I'm eleven," Mumbles says, "I'm super old now."

"Maybe next time, Mumbles," I tell her.

Mumbles pouts. "Please? Pleeeeaaaase?"

Toothless flicks his ear and huffs.

"We've got to go," I say. "I'll see you later, Gobber, Mumbles."

"Come on, little one," Gobber says to Mumbles, "Let's get you back to your house."

"I'm always going back to my house," Mumbles says, "I never get to do anything fun."

"Wait until you're older," Gobber tells her.

"But I'm already old!"

"Okay, Toothless," I whisper, patting his head. "Let's go!"

With that, Toothless launches into the air.

#

Flying will never get old. The wind in my hair, the way everything below looks when I'm up in the sky, being able to touch the clouds. I could fly with Toothless until I'm old, and even then, I'd probably still try to keep flying. Mumbles might not really know what she's missing, but is she ever going to love flying once she can.

"Okay, buddy, where are we going?" I ask Toothless.

We've done a little exploring in the time since I've healed up. We've gone to other islands, seen animals I've never seen before, even eaten fish I didn't know existed. And of course, I've been getting it all down in my notebook. Dad has asked me about adjusting the official maps, but now we've got Vikings learning to fly dragons so they can do that.

Toothless goes past a small island we visited that has a lot of eels in its surrounding waters. Not his favorite place.

Then he weaves between large cliffs and goes what I think is West or North, farther than we've ever been before.

"This isn't going to take all day, is it?" I ask him, "We haven't eaten yet..."

He lets out a roar that I'm pretty sure is telling me to shut up.

Then I see it in the distance. We're headed straight for a medium-sized island. What little sand there is is as black as the rocks that dominate the bleak beach. The jagged shore would not be a great place to land a boat, let alone a dragon. But Toothless goes right toward it.

I can feel it getting colder as we approach.

"Oh, I don't know about this, Toothless," I say. "No plant life? Dark shores? Not very welcoming..."

He keeps flying.

As we get closer, I can see the huge cave open toward us.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not going in there are we?"

Toothless doesn't respond.

"Toothless?!" We go in. "... Great."

It's colder than flying at night. I wish I had my vest. I pull my sleeves over my hands and blow on them, but my breath comes out as a weak fog. As we go deeper inside, the light dims. Toothless navigates the twists and turns and sudden drops like he knows where he's going.

The cave gets wider and taller as we continue. A wind blows in bursts, roaring in my ears at its strongest. Every boulder and stone beneath us seems to have a sharp edge, as if to say soft, living things aren't welcome. I definitely wouldn't want to have to walk down there.

Below us, the ocean water succumbs to the cave's rocky insides and soon it becomes a thin river.

"Let me get this straight," I say, "River, cold cave, flying. Are we about to find a dog the size of my house?"

Toothless slows down a little and I begin to notice the odd shimmer on the walls around us, even with the weak lighting. It's almost as if the rocks are giving off their own sort of light.

"If it weren't so cold, this might be a nice setting for a date."

Toothless dips down and soon we're settled on the river bank. The water whispers past us, its gentle sounds echoing around us. Toothless lowers his head to the water and laps some up. I try to get off, but he jerks and bucks up.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay here," I assure him.

He pads forward, his head tilted as he sniffs the air. Then he lets out a short sound, kind of like a bark. It echoes throughout the cave.

"Hello?" I call. That echoes too.

"You are one," a voice says calmly, just behind me.

"What?" I turn, but there's no one there.

"You are one," the voice says again, this time from the ground.

Toothless sits and folds his wings. The woman is standing beside him. She's a little round and she's wearing a gray cloak. Her eyes are milky and gray.

"No," I say, "There are two of us here."

"One may pass," she says. She holds out her hand, the index finger extended.

"Okay, let's start over," I say. "I'm Hiccup, and this is my dragon, Toothless. What's your name?"

"Modgud," she replies.

"Modgud. Okay. Like I said, Modgud, there--" Then it hits me. ModgudGarmHel. "What?" Helheim.

"One may pass."

"No, we got that part," I say, "Your name is... Modgud? Seriously?"

"You are one," she replies.

"Okay, uh..." I shut my eyes as I try to think. Helheim. "You're Modgud. _The_ Modgud?"

 "Yes."

"Toothless..." I say as I look up at the cave ceiling. It shimmers. It's beautiful. It can't possibly be normal. "Did you just take me to the realm of the dead?" Helheim. Seriously?!

"One may pass," Modgud says.

"Right. Thanks for that. So... We can't pass? Oh well, too bad." I rub Toothless's neck. "Maybe next time, bud."

Toothless doesn't respond or move.

"We--We're not dead. Really. Toothless," I insist through my teeth, "We're not. Dead. We were almost dead. Once." Right now I really want to see Astrid again. And my dad. And Gobber. And even Mumbles. "How did you even find this place? Why did you even--"

"You are one," Modgud repeats.

"Okay," I press my fist to my mouth as I try to work my mind through this, "how about this: you keep on thinking that," I point to her, "and we'll leave," I pat Toothless's head, "Sound good? Everyone agreed?"

Toothless bows his head down low as Modgud touches him.

"Wait, you can see him?" I ask. "You can see us?"

"Her child," Modgud says.

All of my thoughts halt. "Child?" I start to slide down off of Toothless, but he turns and growls. "Whoa. All right. I'll stay." I shake my head as I think. "Modgud, you know Toothless's mother?"

Modgud looks right at me with those milky eyes. "One may pass."

"Wait a second." The thoughts are racing around my head now. "Is Toothless's mother in... there?" I point into the cave.

"Yes," Modgud says.

Great. My dragon has some serious mother issues.

"What about his father?" I ask, almost regretting it as I hear it come out of my mouth.

 Modgud points up.

"Okay..." I say. "Does he have any brothers or sisters?"

"He has a large family," Modgud answers.

"And where are they?"

"They are everywhere you look."

"Helpful."

Modgud smiles at me. "You are one."

"Only one may pass," I finish for her. I flinch as I hear a voice in my head:

_Come back to me._

"My child," I breathe. "That's her! From my dream! Toothless, that's your mother!"

Toothless moans.

"You heard her too, didn't you?" I rub his head with my palm. "That's what made you so sad last night. Modgud, can he walk in?"

"Garm," Modgud says.

"The dog," I breathe. "We'd have to fly."

"You are one," Mogud says again.

"If we went together, we could make it over Garm and the gate," I say, "Just like in my dream." I nod. "That's it. That has to be it."

"But only one may pass," Modgud reminds me.

"The crash afterward," I say. "Only one of us will make it?"

Modgud stares at me.

I take a deep breath. "I'll just have to figure something out."

Suddenly a really strong burst of wind comes howling out of the cave. I have to grab the saddle to stay upright.

"Go," Modgud says just as she explodes into a flurry of feathers.

"Toothless," I say, "It's time to go."

Just as Toothless lifts off, a loud bark echoes through the cave.

"This is definitely not good," I call as Toothless picks up speed. "Come on, buddy, we need to go faster than that!"

Toothless tries, I know he does, but for some reason we have trouble gaining speed. It's almost as if the cave gets longer, or time gets slower, or some force is pulling us back in.

_Why stop the inevitable?_ a voice asks in my head.

Then I feel it. A chill creeps up my back and the breath of something else huffs through my hair.

"Thor Almighty."

Suddenly the world smashes down around me and everything goes dark.

#

"Hiccup!" someone yells into my ear as I feel a sharp pain on my cheek, "Hiccup! Wake up! Wake up, already!" There's more pain on my other cheek.

"Ungh," I groan as I open my eyes, "What? Ow! Okay, you can stop hitting me!"

I barely catch the look of relief on Astrid's face before it turns into fury. "What did you go and do that for?"

"Do what?" I ask as I sit up. I look down at myself. "Why am I wet?"

"You and Toothless dove headfirst into the ocean," Astrid informs me. Her hair is plastered to her face. She's dripping as much water as I am.

I blink as I remember what happened. It definitely wasn't that. "Where are we?"

"Clearly, we are on the beach," Astrid says, gesturing to the rocky shore.

I glance around. "Toothless!" I say. "Where's Toothless?"

"He's down that way," Astrid says calmly, nodding to the right. She's gripping my shoulder hard and keeping me down on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I don't...I guess," I say. I've still got my peg leg and the rest of me. "Astrid, I have to see if Toothless is okay. Please."

Astrid huffs and wipes her hair out of her eyes. "Fine. Come on." She lets go of my shoulder and holds her hand out to me.

I take it and stand. Once I'm up, I wobble a little and she grabs my arm to balance me out.

"Hey Gobber," I say as he joins us in walking.

"You trusted your dragon right into the ocean," he says.

"It wasn't like that," I say.

"Then what was it like?" Astrid says. There is some serious anger in her voice.

"I'm pretty sure you're not going to believe me."

"First Viking to ride a dragon," Astrid points out. "Try us."

"This is a little different," I say. "Just trust me on this one. Ugh--What is this in my mouth?" It's soft and disgusting and I spit it out into my hand. It's a wet feather, about as long as my finger.

"What is it?" Gobber asks.

"A piece of Modgud," I say.

"What?" both of them say in flat voices as they stop walking and turn to me.


	3. Chapter 3

"I knew it," Astrid says, "I knew it. He is actually that insane."

"I am not that insane," I insist, "This actually happened."

"We saw you," Gobber says, "You dropped out of the air like a stone."

"I understand there is some sort of disconnect here," I say, "And I can't explain it, but, guys, this happened. I told you you wouldn't believe me. This feather is real." I hold it up. Now that it is drying, it has an odd shimmer to its gray color. "Where else could it have come from?"

Toothless is fine and for that at least I'm relieved. He nuzzles my back as Astrid and Gobber share a look and probably wonder what they're going to do with me.

"Hiccup!" Dad yells from over the hill.

I shut my eyes as dread washes over me. "Someone please tell me he didn't see what just happened," I say.

Neither of them says anything.

"Great." I press my lips together. "Please don't tell him what I said. He's going to lock me up for sure."

"Then what do we tell him?" Astrid asks quietly.

I stuff the feather in my pocket and open my hands just as he makes it over the curve of the hill. I bring my hands to my head.

"Dad!" I call out, opening my arms as I walk to him. "Hey, Dad. What are you doing out he--"

"Stupid beast!" he calls out, trying to get past me to Toothless.

"Dad. Dad!" I do my best to get and stay in his way. "It's not his fault!" He tries to push me aside, but I hang onto his arm.

Toothless growls behind me.

"It dove right into the ocean with you on its back!" Dad roars.

Okay, I'm going to lie to my father right about... now: "I know it looked bad, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't do anything wrong. It's because we went out before breakfast. I should have had something to eat first. That's my fault. I felt a little dizzy and we just lost control..."

As my father seethes, I notice Fishlegs came with him.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly during the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm okay," I reply. "Dad, see? I'm okay," I let go of his arm to gesture to myself, then to everyone, "Everyone's okay. We're all okay."

Astrid and Gobber share another look.

"Hiccup's crazy," Astrid says just when Gobber says,

"The boy must've bumped his head."

I sigh. "Thank you both for proving how trustworthy you are."

Dad's eyes thin. "What are you two talking about?"

"Oh, it's-it's nothing, Dad. You know, they're just-they're just worried about me."

"I wasn't talking to you."

"You're not lis--" I open my hands to him, then press them together when he turns away from me, "Okay. Definitely not listening."

"He thought he went to Helheim," Gobber says.

"It was probably just the near-death experience," I try, "You know, I could have died but I didn't. Because I'm here now. And I'm fine. Dad. I'm fine."

"Get him back to the house," Dad orders.

Astrid starts walking. "Let's go," she says to me.

I look to Toothless. "Come on, buddy."

"I'm watching you, beast," Dad says to Toothless.

I resist the urge to speak again. He's not going to listen anyway.

Astrid, Toothless, and I walk in silence for a few minutes before Astrid speaks up: "Did you know that you sink?"

"I sink?"

"In water. Because of your leg," she says.

"You just saved my life, didn't you?" I ask her.

"Your leg is heavy," she says.

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I mean, for saving my life."

"Oh." That's the sum of her response.

"Do you really think I'm crazy?"

"I don't know what I think." She shakes her head. "I know what I saw. And I know what I felt when I went to help you."

"And I saw and felt something completely different," I tell her. "But I'm not crazy. I know I'm not. I've had dreams about this, Astrid."

"You've had dreams about going to Helheim? And meeting Modgud?"

"Well, not the Modgud part. I don't know why. I just know I've seen Helheim's gate. My dad talked about it a lot when he was hunting dragons, but he had no idea how to get there. Toothless does. His mother's there."

"Does that mean his mother is..." she drops her voice to a low whisper, "Dead?"

"I don't know what it means," I say. "But Toothless needs to find his mother. And she's in there. If we can just avoid the part where I die--"

"Hold on," she says, holding her hand up, "You die in your dream?"

"Well, I wake up just as I hit the ground," I say.

Astrid stops walking to scowl at me. "Hiccup, drop this."

"It's okay, I'm going to figure something out so that we both survive when we--"

"I did not just save your life so you could risk it again for-for--"

"For the dragon who saved my life twice? The one I injured so he could never fly alone again? So he could never find his mother?"

"Toothless has survived this long without going to that place. He can cope." She starts walking again, fast, her hands balled up into fists. "Just because you feel guilty doesn't mean you need to kill yourself for him."

"That's just it," I say as I follow her, "I know there has to be a way to do this without me getting hurt. I just have to find it."

"Dreams," Astrid mutters. "You should go to the Elder. She'll tell you how crazy you are."

I stop walking. "The Elder. Of course! She'll know what I'm talking about!"

"Oh no," Astrid says, "Hiccup..."

"Right, we're going back to the house," I say, charging forward. "Let's go, Toothless!"

Toothless runs ahead and looks back at me, giving off a small roar. I wink at him and give him a thumbs-up. I've got this covered.

#

Our village Elder lives in a small hut not too far from my house. After I dry off and change into another green shirt, I poke my head out to see if Astrid, Gobber, or my dad are around. Someone passes and asks me if I'm all right.

"I couldn't be better," I reply, and he walks off muttering about Night Furies.

"Stay here, Toothless," I tell him.

Toothless groans but he sits by the bed obediently.

I hurry out and take the path to the Elder's hut. When I reach the front door, I realize I don't know how to go about this. As I raise my hand to knock, the door opens.

"Oh." I peer inside, but there's no one behind the door. "Hello?" The door opens wider, maybe because of the wind. I step inside. "Hello? Uh... Elder?" Something whacks the back of my head. "Ow!" I turn around as I rub the injury. "Oh, hi."

The Elder lowers her staff and regards me with a blank look.

"Um... Here." I give her the feather I got from Modgud. "So, everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I'm pretty sure--"

"Modgud?" she says in a small voice. She admires the feather as she twists it around between her fingers.

"Yes. Yeah. You know about her feathers?"

"This is a gift from the gods," she says, returning it to me, "Do not part with it."

"I'm not crazy then?" I say as I take the feather back. "I mean, I want to go back."

"You want to die a weak and feeble death?"

"No! No, definitely not. I mean, I'm a Viking. Grr, and all that," I make a fist to show her my Viking allure, "Valhalla. Yeah. But I was, uh, I was kind of wondering if there's a way to get past the gate without dying."

She's looking at me blankly again.

"I should have made note cards," I mutter. "I neglected to mention that I've been having dreams about Helheim."

Her eyes widen. "Dreams?! About dying?"

"Well, the subject matter isn't dying exactly. The subject matter is Helheim's gate. Though I guess there is death involved. At the end. Where I fall to my death. After getting past the gate."

She stares at me.

"I'm not crazy."

"Ever since your childhood you have been different," she says.

I nod. "That's what my dad tells me."

"I see now that you are touched by the gods."

"I'm touched--What?" I jerk my head forward. Did I hear that right? "Uh, no god has ever touched me." I scratch my head and look down at myself. Definitely not. I look back up at her. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to breathe the same air as me."

"It was you on the Night Fury who defeated the great dragon, was it not?"

"Uh... Yeah."

"You are a great warrior, but your fate is tied with that of the Night Fury."

"I'd say so. I'm trying to get him into Helheim to see his mother."

"What?!" she explodes.

"Oh man." I hold my hands out to her. "Um, let's pretend I didn't say that--"

She mutters in a language I don't understand. Then she starts whacking my back with her staff.

"Ow. Ow!"

"Accursed!" she lets out as she herds me through the doorway.

"I didn't--What's--Ow!"

The door slams behind me.

I can hear her yelling that other language as I trudge away from the door. I rub my face with my hands and navigate the village without looking. "I've just upset pretty much the only person who could help me," I finally groan into my palms.

"Wow," someone says in front of me. "Am I supposed to share something now?"

I stop walking and let my fingers slide down to my cheeks. "Oh, hi, Snotlout."

Snotlout grins. "Man, I saw your wicked dive this morning." He raises his fist as if he wants me to hit it with my own hand. "That was wicked. If you wanted to turn everyone off to flying dragons, you've pretty much accomplished your goal. Don't leave me hanging."

I leave him hanging. "Thanks so much for the encouragement."

He shrugs and drops his fist. "Yeah, I'm surprised you even survived-"

"You really don't have to share anymore."

"-You're lucky Astrid's a pretty good swimmer. I knew that about her. She looks like she swims a lot. She's got that swimmer's build, you know?"

"She's not ever here!" I snap, throwing my hands down.

"Whoa, calm down, man," he says, showing me his palms. "Sit back and enjoy the life she managed to salvage."

I take in a deep breath. "Good talking to you, Snotlout. I'll see you later."

"Sure, if you're still alive."

As I walk, I look up into the air. No one's flying. Usually while there's sun, there are at least two or three people on their dragons, practicing. Did I really do this?

#

"So you nearly died, you set back everyone's trust in dragons, your dad and Astrid and Gobber think you're crazy, and you alienated the one person who could help you. Does that about cover it?"

"Thank you for summing that up."

Fishlegs tugs on his foot and rocks back a little so he can sit more comfortably cross-legged. "I just wanted to make sure I got everything right."

"Yeah, that pretty much sounds like it all. Oh, and don't forget my dragon has mom issues."

"Oh yeah," he says. "That's pretty important."

We sit and watch the Gronckle as she adjusts herself over her eggs.

"I wonder how long it's going to take for them to hatch," he says.

"I guess we'll find out. Are you taking notes?"

"Definitely," he says, "I've already drafted stat pages for each of the eggs. As soon as they're hatched, I'll be keeping track of their attributes, advantages, powers, skills, and traits."

"That sounds... thorough."

"I believe you, for what it's worth."

"You believe I saw Modgud?"

"You've got that feather, right?"

"Right."

"Do you believe you?"

"I... don't know." I take a deep breath and exhale. "What if it really was just another dream?"

"But the dreams carried you to Helheim's gate," Fishlegs says, "This would've been the same thing if it was just another dream, right?"

"I guess. Yeah.... Yeah. This was different."

"And it's not like Toothless would do that to you. Try to kill you, I mean."

"No, he wouldn't," I reply, "He definitely wouldn't if he could help it."

"Hey guys," Ruffnut says as she comes up behind us. "What are you doing?"

"We're just talking," Fishlegs says, "And watching my Gronckle."

"Man, Hiccup, your dragon is crazy! Can I have it?"

I turn around to face her. "What?! No!"

"But it, like, tried to kill you and stuff."

"Toothless did not try to kill me."

"Okay, but he's still crazy. If you ever want to get rid of it..."

"I will never want to get rid of him," I inform her, "Ever. You have your Zippleback."

"Yeah, but I have to share it. I want my own dragon. Don't we have enough dragons for everyone to have one?"

"You can have one of the Gronckles when they hatch," Fishlegs says.

Ruffnut scrunches up her face. "Eww. Would I have to, like, take care of it and stuff?"

"His or her mother would probably take care of all the important stuff before you needed to step in," I say.

"Oh," she says, "Okay, maybe I'll take one."

"I'm sure you'll make an excellent Gronckle owner," Fishlegs says with a smile, "They're not that hard to take care of."

"How long will I have to wait until I can ride it?" Ruffnut asks.

"We'll have to see about that," I say, "We don't know how fast they grow."

"Well, it better grow fast," Ruffnut says. She whips one of her braids over her shoulder. "Hey, Hiccup are you doing anything later today?"

"I need to get in some Dragon Training and saddle-making and go to Mumbles' celebration and I think I'm about to get yelled at by my father. Why?"

"What?" she asks, confused. Then the answer sounds behind her.

"Hiccup!" Dad bellows as he comes at us.

"Yes, Dad?" I start to stand. He rushes to my side and drags me up by the arm. "Oof!"

"Uh, bye!" Ruffnut says before she dashes off.

Fishlegs is on his feet now, looking everywhere but at us. "Um," he says, "Uh." He scoots step-by-step sideways so that he blocks the Gronckle and its eggs from Dad.

"What did you do the Elder?" Dad demands.

"I didn't do anything to her! I just went over there to talk to her!"

"She won't say anything to me!"

"Maybe _you_ did something to make her mad?"

"Hiccup, this is serious!" Dad says. "She's presiding over Mumbles's birthday celebration today. And now she's muttering about something 'accursed'!"

"Oh, that," I say. "Yeah..."

"Hiccup," he says quietly.

"I just went to ask about Helheim, that's it, I swear," I say. "And I may have mentioned Toothless. And his mother."

Dad looks at me. Hard. Then he starts dragging me away by the arm.

"See you, Fishlegs," I call out.

"Disadvantage," Fishlegs calls back in reply.

"You're not to go anywhere else today," Dad says.

"What about Mumbles's birthday?"

"She'll live. You however--"

"I have saddles to make. And Vikings to train!"

"They'll be there tomorrow. Well, I can't speak for Dragon Training."

"What?! Oh, come on, I told you that wasn't Toothless's fault!"

"No one is flying any dragons until we work this out!"

"Dad--!"

"No, you've been through enough today and you've done enough damage. Stay. In. The house."

"What am I supposed to do in the house?"

"Why don't you try having a good sleep for once?"

"What?" My voice comes out soft.

"I know you've had trouble going to sleep," he says, a little calmer now, "And when you are asleep, you're having bad dreams."

"... Oh."

"I live in the same house," he says, "Just take the day to rest. The dragon can stay outside while you--."

"No! No, I want him in the house."

He doesn't respond.

"Please, Dad don't make me stay there alone."

When we reach the front door, Dad finally lets me go.

"Just relax," Dad says, "Don't worry about Helheim or anything else."

"Okay..." I bite my lower lip. "Can Toothless stay inside? Please?"

He shakes his head. "Fine."

"Thanks, Dad. For... caring."

"You're my only son," he says before he walks past me.

I want to look back at him, but I don't. I feel like I've disappointed him. I go in and Toothless leaps at me, sniffing and nudging me with his snout. "Hey buddy," I say. "Guess you're stuck with me for the rest of the day." He shuts his eyes as I scratch his neck.

A thought comes to me, and I stick my head out the door. I can still see my dad walking away. Letting out a long breath, I pull back into the house. With my hand on the door, I turn to Toothless. "How about breakfast?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Come back to me._

I'm starting to get used to the sound of Toothless's mom's voice.

I am only half-asleep when I hear the knock on the front door. Just before I open my eyes, I feel a chilly wind ruffle my hair. I shiver and look around but the window's closed and the fire's going. "Odd..."

As I sit up, Toothless pads toward the bed. I swing my legs around and Toothless stays close on my left side. "Did you feel that?" I ask him as I stand.

He blinks and tilts his head as I walk to the door.

Oh well. "Yes?" I ask as I open the door. "Oh."

"Hi," Astrid says. She's holding a plate with a lump of cake on it. "I thought you'd want some."

"Thanks," I say, taking it. "Is Mumbles disappointed?"

"Very," she replies, "She wanted to ride Toothless today."

"Well, now, no one will even let her near him."

"Pretty much." She nods.

"Do you want to come in?"

"No, I'm good out here," she says, gesturing around her.

We stare at each other for a moment.

"... This is not how I planned it," I admit.

"How did you plan it?"

"I didn't have a plan," I say, "I just thought maybe I could help Toothless. And now..."

"Now...?"

"There are just problems everywhere."

"We noticed."

"We?"

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout emerge from around the doorway.

Tuffnut steps in front of Astrid to say, "Clearly, you have made the right choice. I am the solution to all of your problems."

"Do you have a plan?" Snotlout asks, pushing him aside, "Because I love your plans."

"Now I know you're really crazy," Ruffnut says, squeezing in in front of Snotlout, "And that's kind of hot."

"With Dragon Training postponed," Astrid says, tugging Ruffnut out of the way, "We're the only ones qualified to ride dragons. So..."

"So," I say.

"Whenever you need us," Fishlegs says, "We're there. Also, it will boost our experience as a collective."

"Guys," I say, "Thanks. I don't really have a plan, yet, but... I appreciate it."

"You don't have a plan?" Astrid says. "You stayed in your house all day and you have nothing to show for it?"

"Well, I figured out one way to get Toothless into Helheim without falling to my death, but..."

"But?" she asks.

"But, well..." My gaze falls on Fishlegs. Then whatever I'm about to say disappears as my mouth hangs open. "Fishlegs."

"Yes?" he says.

"What do you know about Garm?"

"Garm? As in, Helheim Garm?"

"Yes," I say.

"This is totally insane!" Ruffnut crows giddily.

"Garm," Fishlegs murmurs, scratching his chin. "Health: probably around 2000. Speed: 1450. Strength: 1680."

"Yeah, yeah. Do you think five dragons could take him on?" I ask him.

He looks up in thought. "Maybe," he says, lifting his index finger with a smile.

"We're really going to Helheim?" Snotlout asks. "Like, Helheim Helheim?"

"If this works out," I say, "Yes. Does this mean you all believe my story?"

"Astrid and Fishlegs told us," Ruffnut says, "And it is the single most awesome thing I have ever heard."

"I've heard better," Tuffnut says, "But this one's true."

"Astrid?" I ask.

Astrid shrugs. "She seems to believe you." She steps aside to reveal the Elder.

"You!" I say, pointing at her, "But-but. You..."

"I said you were touched by the gods," the Elder says. "Sometimes that means you have to be a little crazy. Or, in your case, a lot."

"What about the whole 'accursed' thing?" I ask her.

"It is not up to me to hinder your journey as a warrior."

"But what did you mean by it?"

"That is for you to find out on your own."

"Can I partner up or something?"

"The journey to Valhalla is treaded alone."

"With my dragon?"

"Almost alone."

"Okay. So my partner can't talk is pretty much what you're saying."

"I do have places to be," the Elder says.

"Right. Sorry."

"Does this mean we're going to dive into the ocean too?" Snotlout asks. He doesn't look as assured as everyone else. "It's not like I can't swim, or anything... I'm just worried about the others who can't."

"Yeah, how does it work?" I ask, kneeling down on my right knee so I am level with the Elder. "Do we dive in to get to Helheim, even though we're not diving in at all? Or is it the other way around?"

"Your body dives into the ocean," the Elder explains, "But it can only go so far--if your course is true, your spirit travels down into the realm of the dead..."

As she goes on, I try to envision the hound from my dreams, how we're going to face it. When the Elder's finished explaining, I know how things will work out.

"Are you all sure you want to do this?" I ask everyone as the Elder walks away. "For Toothless?"

"He saved everyone," Astrid says, "Now it's our turn to help him."

"Then we meet at sun up with our dragons. Fishlegs, you'll have to use one of the other Gronckles."

"No problem," he says, "I'm on good terms with most of them. I hope I figure out which one's the father."

"Man, our parents are going to kill us if we don't die," Ruffnut says, punching the air with her fists, "This is gonna be so great!"

"Tomorrow at sun up," Astrid says. "Got it."

#

As I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling, I'm so consumed with what's going to happen the next day that I don't hear Dad come in. He calls my name what must be at least three times before he comes up to the bed and leans over me.

"Oh!" I sit up quickly. "Hey Dad."

"Did you get some rest?" he asks.

"I rested," I say as I stretch my arms. "I'm so well-rested and ready to get back to normal life tomorrow."

After the going to the realm of the dead part.

"Good." He looks like he's deciding whether to believe me or not.

"But I've decided you have to promise me something," I say.

"What?"

"Sit down." I scoot across the bed and gesture to the room I've made for him.

He pulls up a chair and sits in it.

"Or that."

"What is it, Son?"

Okay... My dad's actually listening to me? He really must have worried. Now this is kind of awkward. "Well, uh. I just want. I just want you to trust me."

His eyebrows draw together. "Hiccup--"

I show him my palm. "I know this is kind of a weird request, but it'll make sense later. I hope."

"Hiccup." He puts his hand on my shoulder. "I trust you. You don't need to make me promise this."

"I think I kind of do."

He releases my shoulder. "No, you don't."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I--"

"Hiccup!"

"Uh... okay. You trust me. Thanks, Dad. That really means a lot to me. But."

"But?" He raises his eyebrows.

"But... Will you promise me you'll trust Toothless too?"

Toothless is curled up by the fire. He lifts his head at the mention of his name and yawns. Then he looks between my dad and me.

My dad searches my face for something.

"You trusted him with me once," I say to him, "And he didn't disappoint you. I need you to keep that trust. Can you do that, Dad?... Please?"

He shakes his head gently as he opens his mouth to speak. But nothing comes out.

"Please, Dad." I wring my hands before me. "Please."

"It risked your life today," Dad says, standing.

"Life is always risky for a Viking, isn't it? It's an occupational hazard, right?" I scoot to the edge of the bed and stand. Suddenly Toothless is beside me. I pat his ear.

"This," Dad says, gesturing to Toothless, "Is a different kind of risk. The risks Vikings take don't involve creatures that can betray you at any moment!"

"The ocean can betray you at any moment," I reply, "But you still think Vikings are meant to tame seas, don't you? Go off on adventures that can get you killed or worse. In boats that may or may not come back. Like what happened to Mom."

"We never take a risk that we don't know about. That's why we're Vikings."

"Maybe we're Vikings because we're just too stubborn to trust what's right in front of us. We go looking for the hardest possible thing there is to do and, for some reason, we try to do it. Why can't you just take the easy route some time? This time? Toothless would never hurt me--"

"Then what was it trying to do today? How do you explain what happened this morning?"

I exhale a long breath. "I can't explain it."

"And you want me to trust _that_?"

"It's not about any _that_ it's about _him_! He's a him! He's a living, breathing creature who loves me and who saved everyone's lives! The least you could do is trust him. Is it really that hard for you?"

"Yes," he answers as he turns his back to me.

"Dad, I'm not fini--"

"You have your answer," he says, "Talk over."

"No. Talk not over." I stalk over to him and step into his way. I hold my hand out against his chest, which stops him.

We both look down at my hand and I pull it away.

Dad watches me, one eyebrow raised.

I gulp. "We're not through," I tell him. "Toothless is like a part of me, and I know I'm a part of him. If you don't trust him, then you don't trust me."

He scowls. "If you're so invested in that beast, then maybe I don't trust you after all."

"So that's it, huh? Every choice I make is a bad one?"

"Don't start down this path," he warns me, shaking his head.

"What path, Dad? Toothless is the only reason I'm alive today. If you can't appreciate that, then maybe you two shouldn't share a house."

"Maybe we shouldn't," Dad agrees.

"Ooh," I point at him, "You want that don't you. He was never welcome, was he?"

"I told you before, it is as welcome as it can be."

"Yet you still think he's an 'it'! How fair is that? He's a part of our family!"

"That thing will never be a part of our family!" Dad shouts, pointing at Toothless, "Would you get it in your head that it's not a human being? It can't think like you and me, it can't love like you and me. It can't take care of us the way you take care of it. You provide for it, but it still tries to send you to Helheim!"

"Oh, Dad, if you only knew..."

"Knew what?"

"I... can't tell you."

"You ask for my trust," Dad says quietly, "But you never trusted me." He turns to the stairs and moves past me. "Talk over."

I shut my eyes as I listen to his slow, heavy footsteps ascending. Then I rub my palm over my face and turn to the door. What did I just do? "That fire. I can hardly breathe in here."

Toothless nuzzles my right leg.

I gently push him away. "Toothless, I can't. I need to be alone. Stay here, okay?"

He makes a hurt sound, but I walk until I'm out the door. I pause when I'm outside. Then I take a deep breath and keep going.

#

Well, if I ever wondered how cold it is outside of the house in the middle of the night, I now have my answer. It's got to be freezing, at least.

I sit on a rock and stare at the fires that reveal pockets of the village through the darkness while I twist Modgud's feather back and forth between my fingers. In the moonlight, the shimmering looks almost ghostly.

"Touched by the gods," I mutter. "Like that matters." I jump when I hear a voice beside me:

"Oh, I don't know," says the man, "Gods don't do a lot of touching."

He sits on the rock to my right. He's shirtless and he has a huge knife stuck in his belt. His trousers look pretty thin, but he doesn't look cold at all. He props his left heel on the rock and leans his elbow against his knee as he turns to me.

"Not to be rude or anything," I say as I get up, "But I kind of want to be alone right now."

"Oh, I totally understand," he says. "But don't you want this back?"

He's holding up my feather. I look down at my hand. "How did you--?"

He smiles.

"Can I have that back?"

"Sit," he says, patting the rock beside him, "Talk to me."

"Please, just give it back."

"What's so special about it?" He admires the feather in the moonlight. Then he sniffs it.

"I should probably tell you that was in my mouth earlier..."

He quickly pulls it away from his face. "Oh."

"Can I have it back now?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. In case you've been living on the wrong side of the island, my life is kind of a mess right now, and--"

"Why'd you try to eat it?"

"What?"

"The feather."

"I didn't try to eat it, I inhaled it by accident. Do you have any intention of giving that back?"

"Only if you stay and talk to me," he says.

"Who are you, anyway? I've never seen you around the village before."

"Oh, I've been around. You've seen me." He flexes his left arm. "You'd recognize this, right?"

"... No. You know what? You can keep the feather."

"No, hey, wait! Don't leave."

I turn to go anyway, and suddenly he's in front of me.

I turn back to where he was sitting, where there's an empty space now. Then I turn to him in front of me. "How did you do that?"

He offers me the feather with his left hand. "It's yours. You earned it."

I take the feather and examine it. It's shimmering. It's definitely my Modgud feather. "What makes you think I earned it?"

"You are Hiccup, aren't you?" he says. "You ride the uh," he snaps his fingers, "What is it they call it? The black dragon."

"Toothless," I say, "The Night Fury."

"Yes, the Night Fury," he says. "You two are good together."

Now that we're both standing, I notice he's taller than me. Taller than my Dad, even. He's got the usual beefy Viking arms and a short, dark beard. "I've definitely never seen you before," I say.

"Yeah, I tend to blend in," he says, shrugging. "What can you do?"

"Well, thanks for the feather," I say, lifting it up for him to see, "I'll be going now."

"Wait," he calls. "Hold on!"

I turn to leave, and he's in front of me. I turn back, and he's there. I turn to leave again, and there he is. "There's something wrong with this picture," I say.

"This whole thing with Helheim-" he starts.

I turn back and he's there.

"-Is this really something you want-"

I turn forward and he's there.

"-to risk your life-"

I turn back.

"Would you stop doing that?!" he yells.

I turn forward. He's crossing his arms now. Something glints in the moonlight where his right hand should be.

"Maybe you're the one who should stop," I say warily. "Oh gods, am I having another weird dream?" I pinch the back of my hand. "Ow."

"That was dumb," he says flatly.

"Look," I say, opening my hands to him, "Do you have a point here or...?"

"As I was saying, about Helheim--"

"Wait, how do you know about this Helheim thing?"

"I overheard Gobber and your father talking."

"But they don't know what I'm planning."

"I overheard the twins talking."

"You eavesdrop a lot." Now I cross my arms. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," he says. "But, seriously, are you sure you want to take on Garm? You realize you're not going to kill him, right? That's reserved for--"

"I don't need to kill him," I say, "I just need to take him out long enough to--Why am I telling you this?" I sigh. "I'm leaving."

"You sure you don't want to talk? Unload a little." He opens his arms to me. "It might make you feel better."

"I definitely don't want to talk to someone I don't know."

"All right, all right. Just promise me one thing."

"Not really in a promising mood right now."

"Then swear," he says. "Swear that you'll go to the Elder first the next time you decide to do something like this with your dragon."

I squint at him. "... Why?"

"Just swear it, and I'll leave you alone."

With that sort of motivation, how can I resist? "I swear."

"I'll be watching you," he warns, holding his index finger out toward me.

"And I'll be blissfully glad that I never have to talk to you again," I reply.

I wait for him to respond, but he doesn't. He's not there anymore. I turn around and around, but he's gone.

Then I notice the orange and purple in the sky. I don't know how it happened but it's almost sun up.

"Go time," I mutter as I hurry back to the house.


	5. Chapter 5

It's just about sun up, but I open the door slowly. I grimace in expectation, but it doesn't creak at all. I let out a heavy breath in relief. Toothless is on his feet by the fire, watching me calmly. "Come on, Toothless," I whisper from the doorway, gesturing for him to come with my hand, "We're going out. Quietly, now."

Toothless hurries forward. I cringe as his tail knocks down a few spears near the door.

Something crashes upstairs. "Hiccup?" Dad calls out.

I climb onto Toothless's back as Dad's footsteps pound down the stairs.

"Hiccup!" 

"Morning, Dad! Let's go buddy!"

Toothless rushes out of the house and we move like water through the village.

"Down to the beach! We're going to find your mom."

Toothless roars just before he leaps up into the air.

"Not so loud!"

He lets out a quieter roar as we soar.

When we arrive, Astrid is sitting on the shore with her Nadder. She's leaning back against the dragon as she sharpens her axe with a stone.

"I thought you'd be here first," she says as I climb off of Toothless.

"I got distracted, I guess."

"Your dad?" she asks.

"You heard us?"

"It was kind of hard not to."

"Figures." I shrug. "Well, I went out last night and I talked to this guy I've never seen before. He has like a hook or something instead of a right hand. Have you ever seen him around?"

Astrid looks at me a moment with her mouth open. "... No... I haven't."

"I thought I knew everyone in the tribe, but..." I shake my head.

"I'm sure it's not important," she says, nodding quickly. "Did he say anything important?"

"He made me swear to talk to the Elder, I don't know what that's about."

"Right," she says, "No right hand?"

"No right hand."

"... Oh, the twins are here. Good. I. Good."

"Astrid, is something wrong?"

 "Nope! Nothing's wrong."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut glide in on their Zippleback. "Morning," Ruffnut says sleepily as Tuffnut stretches and yawns.

Soon, Fishlegs comes up next to them on a Gronckle, and Snotlout arrives on his Nightmare.

I climb up onto Toothless and Astrid hops up onto her Nadder.

"Are your parents awake too?" I ask everyone.

They all nod.

"This is going to work," I assure them, and myself. "Everyone ready?"

"Did anyone else skip breakfast?" Snotlout asks.

"Trust me," I say, "You're not going to need it. Make sure your dragons know where we're going. And make sure you follow us."

"Got it," Astrid says.

I pat Toothless's neck. "All right, Toothless. Time to go back. To Helheim."

He launches up. When we're over the ocean I try to see if I can sense the dive, but it's just like the last time; we continue on through the air, past the places we've been and on to the dark island. I look back at times to make sure everyone else is with us. So far, they are.

"This is going to work," I say again. "It has to."

The air is frigid when we go into the cave.

"It's freezing in here!" Ruffnut yells, and her voice echoes.

"Loudmouth!" Tuffnut calls just as loudly.

"Are we going to meet Modgud?" Fishlegs asks.

"I don't know," I say.

"How will we know when we're there?" Astrid asks.

A roar echoes through the cave, accompanied by a burst of wind.

"That might be a clue," I answer.

"I've got this, guys," Snotlout says, "I'm going to rip that giant dog into small giant pieces of a giant dog. With my foot. For Toothless. It's going to be amazing."

"That's the spirit!" I tell him, "You didn't seem so sure before."

"We'll we're here," he says, "And I'm--" He disappears. Without a sound, he and his Nightmare are just gone.

"Uh, what just happened?" Ruffnut says.

"What I was afraid of," I tell her, "They're finding us already. That's okay, we can still go forward with Plan A."

"Before we can do that, we need to find Garm," Astrid says.

"It can't be much farther," I say. "Come on, come on, where are you?" I spot something gray as Toothless slows down. "Modgud!" I call out.

 "What?" Astrid says.

"Where is she?" Tuffnut asks.

Toothless lands next to her. The others follow suit.

"Many dragons," Modgud says in her quiet voice, looking around at all of us.

"Yeah, I brought some friends," I tell Modgud. "I think this is going to work. Modgud, these are my friends. Guys, this is Modgud."

"Great goddess Modgud," Astrid says. She and her dragon bow their heads low.

"Uh, hi," Ruffnut says with a wave.

"Wow," Fishlegs murmurs beside me.

"She doesn't look like a bird," Tuffnut says.

Another burst of wind comes at us as a roar echoes.

"Sounds closer!" Astrid says.

"Well, we'd better get going," I tell Modgud. "Come on, everyone!"

As we take flight, I hear Modgud's voice in my ear. "I hope it helps," she says.

We turn a sharp corner into a cavern.

"This is new," I say.

"You've never been here before?" Astrid asks.

"Guys," Ruffnut says, "I think we found it."

Garm is actually probably three times the size of my house. His four red eyes blink as if independent of each other, and the teeth he bares as he growls are jagged and yellow. When he sees us, huge black claws grow out of his paws. He makes one swipe at us, a warning probably, and I can feel the force of his paw through the air.

Right behind him is a gate about the same height as he is.

Helheim's gate.

"That's him," I say as we hover together. "My dream wasn't exactly to scale. Fishlegs, what's your take on this?"

"Health: 4800--"

"What? Before it was--"

"He's bigger than I thought he would be!" Fishlegs says.

"Fine, go on!"

 "Well--" Fishlegs pauses. "Oh no."

"What?" I ask.

He and his Gronckle disappear.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut swear at the same time.

"This is not going well," Astrid says.

"Okay, we've got three dragons left," I say, "We can still do this."

"Hiccup..." Astrid says.

Garm charges at us.

"Whoa!"

Just before he reaches us, he jerks back. There's a chain attached to his throat.

"Thanks Modgud," I say.

Garm lets out a roar. The force of his breath comes at us in a strong burst.

"So that's where the wind was coming from," I murmur.

"Hiccup," Astrid says urgently, "What's the plan?"

"All right, Plan... B? Is that where we are?"

"There is no Plan B!" Tuffnut yells.

"There is one now!" I yell back. "Ruff and Tuff, gas the place so Garm can't see us."

"On it!" they both say.

"What are you going to do?" Astrid asks me.

"We're just gonna have to go for it," I tell her. "Do you still trust me?"

"Always," she says grimly.

"... Thank you. Thanks." I take a deep breath. "You do realize I have earned one really long kiss from you in the past two days...?"

"Hiccup!"

"Right."

"Survive first," she tells me.

"Okay, let's go around and get Toothless to the gate."

The gas is working. I can barely see Garm as we fly through the green cloud. He does bark and growl, though, which helps us avoid him on our way to the gate.

"Toothless," I say. I rub his neck. "I love you. Go find your mom, okay?" I unhook my pegleg and slowly push myself up so I'm standing on Toothless. The artificial tail fin closes on its own and we start to go down. I jump off and land behind Astrid on her Nadder.

Toothless lands on the other side of the gate.

"Go, Toothless!" I call out.

"Hiccup, hold on!" Astrid cries.

Garm has figured us out. I lower myself and hold onto to Astrid's shoulders. The hound turns and leaps out of the gas cloud. His jaws snap at us as he leaps in our direction, but Astrid navigates on the Nadder to avoid him.

"Wow that thing can jump!" I say.

"Is that it?" Astrid asks. "Is it done?"

"It's--" I don't get to finish.

Astrid and her Nadder are gone.

"Whoooooaaa!" The ground is coming up fast and I have nothing to hold on to.

"Hiccup!" the twins yell out. They're too far. They won't catch me in time.

"This is it," I say, "Just like my dream." I guess it was meant to happen, anyway. I shut my eyes just as Garm charges at me.

#

It doesn't hurt.

I open my eyes and sit up. I'm on the floor in an empty room. Dim, gray light flows in through the window. Like in the cave, but brighter. When I exhale, I can barely see that my breath comes out in a fog. It's strange, because I don't feel cold.

"Hello?" I call out as I stand.

Water is leaking into the room under the door. The whole floor is flooded. My pants should be wet, but I can't feel it. I rub my leg with my fingers. I feel nothing. "Hello?" I try again as I reach the door.

Just as I touch the handle, it opens.

"Hello," the woman in front of me says. There she is, blonde and beautiful, wearing her breastplate, a huge smile on her face.

"... Mom?" I breathe.

"They said I knew you," she replies. "Oh, Hiccup!"

I don't know what to do. What to say. "Mom!" I wrap my arms around her. She's round and sturdy and she's real. It's like holding onto a rock.

"My Hiccup," she says gently. Something stiff rubs my head. "You're so big."

I release her so I can look at her. "I thought I'd never get to see you again," I tell her. Then I hold her again. "I really missed you."

She pulls away and looks me up and down. "How's your father?"

"He's the same as always," I say.

"You got along all right?"

"We have our moments," I admit, "But we get over them. Uh, Mom? What's with this water?" It's midway up my shin, and I still can't feel it through my pants.

"That's supposed to be there."

"Okay."

"What happened here?" she asks, gesturing to my pegleg.

"Oh, dragons. You know how it is."

"Dragons," she says, nodding. "Hard times."

"Yes, but... It's better now. I wish you could see it."

She blinks. "You killed them?"

"Oh, it's not like that anymore. I have my own dragon. His name is Toothless. He's a Night Fury, but he's a good dragon. He takes care of me."

"Wasn't it dangerous to keep a dragon?" she asks with a frown.

"Dad thinks so, but it's really okay."

The water is past my knee now. My pants are soaked but I still can't feel it. "Is it always like this? With the water?"

"It's for you," Mom says.

"The water's for me? Isn't there a better way to welcome me to Valhalla?"

She pats my head. It's like someone's tapping my head with a stone tablet. "This is a peaceful death, Hiccup."

I press my palm to my forehead. "Oh man, Dad's going to kill me," I say. "Wait. Mom, I thought you died fighting."

"I told your father to tell you that so you wouldn't worry about me."

"But. But that means... We're both in Helheim?" Now the water's at my waist. "You know what, I think I'm actually okay with that."

"That's right, Hiccup," she says, "Stay with me. They want to do awful things to you, but I told them you'd make the right choice."

Now the water is moving quickly up my ribcage. "Who's they?" I ask.

"The gods," she replies.

"Oh. What kind of stuff did they want to do?"

"Terrible things!" she nearly yells. "They wanted to put you in danger. Take you away from me so you'd go to Valhalla!"

"Whoa, calm down, Mom," I say. "It's okay. I'm here now. Uh, is this water going to stop any time soon?"

"Just relax, Son," she says, "Let it take you."

I still can't feel the water, even though it's at my neck. I try to tread water, but my metal foot is too heavy. I sink.

_Did you know that you sink?_ Astrid's voice says in my head.

"Astrid," I say as the water reaches my chin.

_Hiccup!_ she yells in the back of my mind, _Wake up!_

"Astrid!" I say again. I actually feel wet and cold. My heart pounds in my chest. "I have to go. I have to take care of Toothless and-and Dad. And Astrid... I..."

"Stay." Mom holds on tight to my hand, pulling me down.

"Mom. No." I try to tug my hand away but her fingers are like a clamp.

"Stay with me," she insists.

"I can't stay. I can't!"

"The gods will destroy you!" she cries. "Just relax, Hiccup. Rest. You're tired. You can always rest now."

My nose burns. "Mom, I love you." This is the hardest thing I'll ever have to do in my life, and I might not even be alive anymore. "But I want to go to Valhalla."

"You're such a beautiful boy," she says. She touches my cheek. It's like rubbing a cold, smooth stone against my skin. "Won't you stay with me?"

"Goodbye, Mom."

I pry her hand off and turn and try to paddle to the doorway. My metal foot weighs me down like a tether. "I'm not dead," I say as I try to keep my nose above water. "I'm not dead. Oh gods, please, I'm not dead."

"Hiccup, it's okay!" Mom insists. She grabs me from behind, wrapping her arms around me.

"Astrid!" I say, kicking with my right foot as I try to shake her off, "Dad! Toothless! Somebody! Gluh--!"

Mom's weight pulls me down beneath the surface and water floods my mouth.

Then it hits me. My mouth!

I try to work my arm free from Mom's grasp, but she's too strong. I manage to get my fingers into my pocket and flick it out. It leaves a gray trail in the water as it floats up in front of me. With the last breath I'm holding, I say a short prayer. Then I suck the feather into my mouth and bite down, hard.

#

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," a different woman says.

I cough up a mouthful of water and look up. I'm cold and dripping wet and on the floor of another dim room. There's a green fire in front of me, but it gives off no heat. I stand up and turn around. "That's me."

"I'm going to have to have a talk with Modgud about those feathers."

As she speaks, I feel the wet, soft thing in my mouth and spit it out. Then I slip it into my pocket.

The woman looks normal at first. She has light hair and dark, gray eyes. She wears a black cloak that's draped over her shoulders. Her pale hands are folded at her stomach. Then I see her legs, shriveled and black, sticking out from under the cloak.

"Toothless?!" I exclaim.

Toothless stands at her ankles, purring and rubbing his head up against her thin, nasty shin.

"The way my son talks about you," the woman says, "I thought you'd be a little... taller."

My mind goes blank. I know that voice from my dreams. I cannot actually believe what it's saying. Toothless is...

_The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself._

I fall to my hands and knees. I don't know if it's because I'm cold and wet, or because of the shock, or because I'm suddenly scared for my life; I just know I'm on the floor and I probably belong there.

** _Death itself._ **

"... Holy Hel."


	6. Chapter 6

"Idiot," I mutter, as I stare at the floor. "Wow, am I dumb. We actually got things right for once?" Toothless nuzzles my ear. "Hey buddy."

"You can get up now," Hel says lazily.

"Getting up, oh great goddess," I say. I have to lean my hand against the brick over the fireplace to stand up again.

Hel moves her hand and suddenly we're standing in a bleak field. It's rocky and red and whatever grass there is is dry and yellow. Small white puffs are blown around by the cold wind. Some are the size of my palm, but most are pretty small. I catch a piece of the white fluff in my hand and pinch it with my fingers. It's feather-soft and falls apart easily.

I cross my arms and shiver as Toothless leaps around and chases them.

"That's where he gets it from," I murmur.

"What do you mean?" Hel asks, holding out a crystal.

Toothless hurries over and licks the crystal.

"Okay," I say, tapping the air with my index finger, "This is starting to make sense. In a way that doesn't make sense at all. Look, before anything else happens, just tell me: am I dead?"

"You are touched by the gods."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get over that. But am I dead?"

"You don't understand," Hel says. She flicks her hand and we're back in front of the useless fireplace. "The one you call Toothless is my son. I am the goddess of death. Therefore he is also--"

"A god," I finish softly. I swallow hard. "Toothless?" I say meekly. I hold out my hand. He pads over and pushes his snout against my palm, just like the first time we touched. "My best friend is a god," I say. "My dragon is a god." I shiver again. The fire is not doing anything to help. Toothless curls up around my legs.

"He favors you," Hel says. "Even though you damaged him."

I scratch the back of my head. "Oh, uh, you know about that?"

"He keeps nothing from me," she says.

"Sounds like you guys have a strong bond."

"You tried to leave your mother."

I rub my eyes with my wrist. "Yes, I'm a bad person. But I'm not meant to die here. Now. Am I?"

Hel's expression is gentle when she gazes at Toothless. As she lifts her face to look at me, her eyes thin and her eyebrows furrow. Her mouth is set in a straight line. "My son had a destiny before he knew you." Her voice is so low it's almost a growl.

"Okay, this is going to sound like a dumb question," I press my fist to my mouth before I go on, "What happened to it?"

"You." An unamused smirk settles into her expression. "My son needs you," she continues. "He cannot fly without you. He was going to be a hero. Alone. With no help from any mortal."

I look down at Toothless. "... Oh." I bite my lower lip. "What if I help him?"

Hel sighs. "You fought a battle he was not meant to fight. Together. That is how it must be now."

"So I'll live?"

She looks at me like I'm an idiot.

"I'm starting to see the family resemblance," I say.

"You're alive, Hiccup. Your fate is tied to his," she gestures to Toothless. "In the room, you chose the more difficult path-"

"That really is a Viking thing!"

"-And you have that damned feather."

I pat my pocket. I definitely owe Modgud. "So, how does this work?" I ask, "How do I help Toothless achieve his destiny?"

Hel blinks. "You're not interested in going home?"

"I'd love to go home," I say, "But I want to help Toothless first."

"Hm." Hel tilts her head. "You have courage, small one."

"It's-it's kind of new," I admit, "But it's there. I did this to Toothless. It's up to me to fix this."

"First you must swear an oath to the gods."

"Swear an oath. Okay, I can do that."

"Then you will return home."

"That's it?"

"The times ahead will not be so easy."

I take a deep breath and nod. "Let's get that oath sworn."

"It's not quite that simple," she says.

"Of course it isn't. It wouldn't be my life if it was." I hold my hands out. "Not that I'm not glad I'm alive, or anything."

She lifts an eyebrow. "Uh huh."

"How hard is this going to be, exactly?"

"You must swear on the river," Hel explains, "This has never been attempted before. No spirit leaves Helheim."

"But we're not dead spirits... since we're not dead can't we just... fly?"

Hel walks toward me and Toothless. I turn to follow her as she pats Toothless's tail. "It will not work until you reach the gate," she says, gesturing to the red tail fin.

Toothless flicks his tail. I turn to look at his face. He watches me with trust in his eyes, even though I did this to him.

"And there is Garm," she adds.

"Isn't he your dog?" I ask, "Isn't there some kind of free pass you can give me so we can get past him?"

"Entering is easier than leaving," she informs me.

"Yeah, I definitely should have planned this better," I say. "Question: is it going to be this hard every time Toothless needs to see you?"

"You must find two souls strong enough to hold the gate open for you. If you leave through the gate and find the river again, if you get past Garm, I will have you swear your oath to the gods. This will give you free passage."

"That sounds fair," I say. "We can do that, right?" I look to Toothless and smile. He grins his toothless grin. "I'll do this for you, bud," I assure him with a nod.

"We will have light for a half-day," Hel says, "You will leave in half that time and you will have that time to make your oath at the river."

"What happens if we don't make the deadline?" I ask.

"You stay here forever."

"Okay then. No pressure."

"I missed you," Hel says, kneeling on the floor. She clucks her tongue and Toothless purrs as she kisses his head.

"I have another question," I say.

"Yes?" she says, looking up at me.

"Was that really my mother?"

Hel regards me with a solemn look.

#

Hel offers me a plate of food before she bonds with Toothless. The bread looks and feels about as dry as a rock and I can't even tell what kind of fruit is in front of me. It's cut in half; the inside has no pulp and lots of red seeds. Even though I'm feeling a little weak as I stare at the plate, I decide it might not be the best choice to eat something from the house of the dead.

I do a lot of staring as I wander around Hel's house. For some reason, even the smallest details, like a scratch on the wall, captivate me. I guess souls are pretty contemplative in the peaceful afterlife. I barely get through two rooms before Toothless comes bounding toward me.

"My son says you feed him well," Hel says, following him.

"We've got a lot of good fish around the island," I tell her.

"You do not have crystals?" she asks.

"We have sugar crystals. He seems to like those."

She nods.

"Listen, I'm sorry," I say. "I'm really sorry. I hurt your son."

She shakes her head. "Nothing can be done about it now."

"Still, I apologize."

"Vikings don't apologize for being Vikings."

"You may not have noticed," I say, "but I'm not like other Vikings."

"You aren't," she agrees. "I usually like them."

There's a conversation killer. "So... How do you two communicate?"

"You must go now," she says. "You will move closer to death as light ends. Beware."

She kisses Toothless again on his snout, then leads us to a doorway. As she opens it, light pours in so I have to cover my eyes. I can't see outside.

"Step forward," she says.

Just as I obey, I hear the door creak as it closes behind me. Toothless and I look out at the field full of small white puffs. He starts to chase some of them around.

"Toothless," I say, "Toothless, we have to get to the river!"

He looks at me and I swear he's pouting, but he trudges back over to me.

"Two souls who will open the gate," I say. "Got any ideas?"

Toothless starts down a path. When he realizes I'm not following him, he turns and looks at me expectantly.

"Well, I guess you'd know your way around," I admit as I start to walk.

We travel over a succession of hills that get steeper and steeper. There are a lot of souls standing around, staring. Most of them watch the white puffs blow around. At first I do my best not to touch them, but Toothless just walks right through them like it's normal. I try walking through one and feel a deep chill in the pit of my stomach as it vanishes from my disturbing it. I turn around to make sure it reappears, which it does, but that turns me off to walking through souls.

Toothless stops when we reach the edge of what looks like a forest of dead trees. He sniffs the air then turns to me and nods.

"In there?" I ask, pointing into the forest.

He jerks his head back and lowers himself.

I'm feeling weaker, so I don't bother to argue before I climb up onto his back.

Toothless gallops around the edge of the forest until we come to a pair of huge rocks sitting side by side. He squeezes past them and leaps across the black chasm just beyond them.

"Whoa," I say, "Let's try to avoid those, okay?"

He smacks me with his ear and hurries to a hut just beyond the next grove of dead trees.

Toothless stops at the door of the hut. He sniffs the bottom of the doorway, then moves on to a window.

"There's no one inside," I tell him.

He trots around the house.

A man and a woman are standing behind the hut.

Okay, I have to say it. The man is handsome. Golden hair, ocean blue eyes, muscles in all the right places. I mean, my axe doesn't swing that way, but if he were a woman, I would really be dead because I'm pretty sure Astrid would kill me for even looking at him.

"Excuse me?" I say.

Both of them look up. "Yes?" says the woman. "Oh." She holds her hand out to Toothless. Toothless moves forward and nudges her hand with his snout. She's solid.

"Hi," I say. "Um. My name's Hiccup."

They stare at me.

"May I ask who you are?" I say.

"Baldur," the man says distantly.

The woman glances at him then looks back at me. "Nanna," she says.

"Oh man," I say. I gulp. No one is ever going to actually believe this happened. I slide down to the ground on my hands and knees. "Hail thee god and goddess!"

"... Did you need something?" Nanna asks.

I keep staring at the ground. "Um. Are you two busy or anything?"

"We're not doing anything," Nanna says.

"I was wondering... Would you mind doing me a huge favor?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think you could hold the gate of Helheim open for me?"

"Get up," Nanna says.

I stand.

"You're leaving Helheim?" Nanna goes on urgently.

"Presumably," I say, "I have to get past Garm and make a holy oath and stuff. But that's the goal."

"We have never found the gate," Nanna says. "You know the way?"

"He does," I say, jerking my head toward Toothless.

Nanna nods. "If you lead us, we will go with you to the gate," she says. She looks at Baldur.

"Hum?" Baldur says.

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask her.

Nanna tugs Baldur by the arm. "We are going with the boy," she says, "To the gate."

"I can't promise anything," I tell her, "I mean, I'm not sure if you'll be able to leave or anything."

Nanna shakes her head. "Just get us there. I want to try it for myself."

"... All right," I say, "Thanks for agreeing to help. Before we do this, is there anything I can do for you?"

Nanna hardly thinks about it before she answers, "Remember us in your oath."

"I will," I say.

"Then it is done," Nanna says. She smiles suddenly and pats Toothless's head. "We have not seen you in so long."

Toothless purrs.

"So long," Baldur says quietly as I climb onto Toothless's back.

Toothless takes a different route when we leave the hut. I want to ask him about it, but I decide to trust him. He probably knows more about Helheim than Baldur, Nanna, and me combined. At points it looks like we're going around in circles, but I notice that some of the terrain changes. For instance, there aren't so many trees anymore.

Unfortunately, we are not making good time because Baldur stumbles and falls constantly and when he's not doing that, he's just really slow. I'm definitely feeling weaker and what little light we have seems to be getting dimmer.

At one point, Toothless has to smack me twice with his ear to wake me up.  

"I'm starting to lose it," I tell him. When I look up, I can see the gate. It looks as if its height never ends.

It isn't long before Toothless stops in front of it.

"This is it," Nanna says. She touches the gate and turns to Baldur. "This is Helheim's gate."

Baldur nods. "... Gate."

"You did your part," Nanna says to me. "Baldur." She grips his hand. "Baldur, hold these." She puts both his hands around two rods.

"Hold," he replies.

"Hold them," she says, pressing down on his hands to make sure they're secure. "Pull."

Baldur pulls. He doesn't put in very much effort, but the whole gate shakes and creaks as it opens.

Nanna takes hold of two more rods and does the same. "Pull, Baldur!" she commands. "Pull!"

"Thank you!" I yell out as they both pull. Toothless darts out through the space that opens up and immediately we are knocked sideways. I fall off of him and slide along the ground. I can see Nanna pressing her hand against the open air. She pushes against it, but cannot pass. A shadow hovers over me and I quickly turn to avoid getting smashed by one of Garm's paws.

"Toothless!" I call out. "Toothless?!"

As I get up, I can hear him roaring. Or is that Garm?

I see something black darting between Garm's legs. I start to run after him, but my pegleg stops me. I try to walk the way Gobber does when he's in a hurry, but I just don't have any strength left. Swear words pour out of my mouth.

Garm pauses above me. Slowly, his head tilts down. He sniffs, so hard I can feel the air pulling me toward his snout. Then he lifts one leg and lowers his nose so that it's right next to me.

"Whoa!" Something grabs my right leg and I slide out from under Garm. Toothless leaps over me and puts himself between Garm and me.

Toothless growls and Garm growls too as they face each other. But Garm doesn't seem interested in Toothless. He eyes me.

I take a deep breath and launch myself up onto Toothless's back. "Go for it!" I yell.

Toothless roars and we take off, flying over Garm's head.

Garm snaps at us from behind, and I feel his hot breath against the back of my neck.

"There's the river," I call out. "It's just within Garm's reach. We're going to have to take him on alone. You ready?"

Toothless dives past Garm's head and lands a shot of fire. Garm flinches and yelps. Then the dog gets angry.

"Holy--Seriously?" I ask.

He now has three dog heads and three snake heads spurting out from his body.

"How many shots do you have?" I ask Toothless.

He growls and dives toward Garm. Then Toothless spins.

"Not a big fan of the spinning!" I tell him. I shut my eyes against the dizziness that ensues.

When he finally does stop spinning I look to see that two of the snake heads are smoldering.

"Okay," I say weakly, "This is good. Four heads left."

Toothless goes in for a dive and we charge one of the dog heads. As it opens its mouth to chomp down on us, Toothless fires into its throat. The remaining three heads roar and hiss.

"We've got this," I encourage Toothless. I'm barely whispering now. Everything seems so dim. "We've got this, buddy."

There's one snake head left. I glance at the gate as we soar high up. Nanna watches us, her mouth hanging open. When I look down, I notice how long the snake head's neck is.

"Toothless, the gate!" I tell him.

Toothless fires at the snake head's nose. It's badly injured but still in the game. It shakes off the injury and continues to follow us to the gate. Toothless flies between two of the rods. I feel the prosthetic tail fin start to fail, but then he circles around the rod to just outside the gate. He continues, flying in circles around the rod. When we finally pull away, the snake neck is wrapped around the vertical length.

Garm's dog heads whimper as his body tries to tug itself free.

My whole body starts to tingle and I feel lightheaded. I shut my eyes and hold my head between my hands as Toothless navigates.

We touch down just where the water's width is about as wide as a good-sized Viking warrior. I slide down to my knees on the stony bank. "Oh great goddess, Hel," I mutter, "I have reached the river."

Garm barks. He's unwrapped the snake neck halfway.

"Come on, come on," I say, fighting to keep my eyes open. "Hello? Anybody there?"

"You made it," Modgud says behind me.

"Yes," I reply, gasping for breath, "Even without anyone telling me that Garm actually has six heads."

"Oh, right," Hel says to my left, "I forgot to mention that."

"Is there anything else I should know?" I pant out.

"You're dying," Hel tells me, "Make your oath."

"How do I do that?"

"Swear upon this river that you will devote your life to the gods," Hel says.

"Wait. Wait, hold on." I lift my hand, then drop it because I can't hold it up anymore. "What exactly does it mean to devote one's life to the gods?"

"It means you will serve them as a hero," she replies.

"This sounds like kind of a big commitment."

"Do you want to live or not?" Modgud demands.

"Swearing," I say. "How exactly do I swear?"

"Say what the great goddess said," Modgud helps me, "then we will hold you underwater."

"I--really?" I ask. "Can't we just shake on it?"

"Hiccup," Modgud warns, "Garm's free."

"Okay, okay! I swear upon this river that I will devote my life to the gods!"

Modgud and Hel each take hold of one of my shoulders.

"Especially Baldur and Nanna," I add just before they shove me into the water.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing I notice is how warm and dry it is. It's a nice feeling, and I turn and curl up under the covers before it registers: I'm home. I sit up. There's a fire going. The window's shut.

"Dad?" I ask.

No response.

"Toothless?" I call out.

Nothing.

I don't have a good feeling about this. I quickly make my way through the door and outside. It's overcast. The dim gray sky almost reminds me of Helheim.

"Hiccup!" the twins call out. They're standing near the front of the house. They stare at me with their mouths open.

"Hey," I say tentatively. "Why do you two look so surprised?"

"She said you were dying," Ruffnut says, "The Elder told your dad..."

"Wait," I say, holding my hand up, "Where's Toothless?"

The twins look at each other. "All of the dragons who didn't fly away are at the arena," Tuffnut says. "Toothless was still out, so they took him on a wagon."

"You really need to talk to your dad," Ruffnut says. "He thinks... We all thought--"

"What are they doing?!" I yell out as I do my best to hurry toward the arena. The twins flank me on each side. "Didn't you tell your parents about Helheim?"

"We did," Ruffnut says.

"What about the Elder?!"

"She tried her best, too," Ruffnut goes on, "But with you dying and stuff? Your dad went crazy. In a bad way."

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs calls out. He joins us, walking beside Ruffnut. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine once I find Toothless," I tell him.

"So we're going to arena?" Fishlegs asks.

"Looks like it," I reply. "Where's Snotlout? Is he okay?"

"He's with the Elder," Fishlegs tells me.

"What about Astrid?"

"She's... with your dad," Fishlegs says in a quieter voice.

"She isn't... on his side...?" I say.

"Even with Astrid's reasoning advantage," Fishlegs says, "trying to reason with your dad hasn't exactly been a successful method of averting chaos."

"Toothless better be okay," I mutter.

Everyone else walks with me silently until Tuffnut decides to say something: "So, how was Helheim?"

"It's kind of a long story," I reply. "Don't really want to get into it right now."

"Did you find Toothless's mom?" Fishlegs asks.

"We found her," I say, "We definitely found her. She is not going to be happy if she finds out my dad hurt him. I'm not going to be happy either, for that matter."

"So you're planning on going back?" Fishlegs asks in awe.

"Guess I am," I say. "If I have a dragon to bring back."

We're only halfway to the arena when I start feeling awful. I have to stop and prop my hands on my knees as I try to regain my breath.

"Maybe you should go back to bed," Ruffnut says, "You _were_ dying."

"I have to show my dad I'm not dying," I gasp out. "I have to save the dragons. How long have I been out anyway?" 

"We just went to Helheim this morning," Fishlegs says.

"Is it past half-day?"

"Barely," Ruffnut says. "You really don't look so good, Hiccup." She touches my shoulder.

"Oh no," I say as I straighten up. "I'm not giving up after everything I've been through. Garm had six heads. Six. I had to swear an oath to the gods, and I got shoved into the river."

The three of them stare at me like I've grown a dragon tail. On my chest.

"This will make more sense when I tell the whole story. Which I will do," I say as I start walking again. "As soon as I make sure everyone is okay."

"Sure," Tuffnut says. He gives Ruffnut an uncertain look.

"If any of you say I'm crazy..." I start. But I don't get to finish. I can hear the frantic cries of the dragons.

"Dad!" I yell. "Dad, stop whatever you're doing!"

"We're not there yet," Ruffnut says.

"I know he can hear me," I reply as I charge forward on the bridge. "Dad!"

"Hiccup?!" Astrid yells.

"Astrid?" I forget to raise my voice. I clear my throat. "Astrid!"

Astrid runs toward us. I make it halfway to her, then I have to stop again to rest. I shut my eyes and hold my head in my hands as my sight goes spotty.

"Hiccup," Astrid says beside me. "What are you doing--"

"Where's Toothless?" I manage as I force my eyes open. "Where's my dad? Ugh..."

"Hiccup!" Astrid yells into my ear.

"I can-I can hear you fine," I murmur.

"Hiccup!" That is not Astrid. I brace myself.

"Dad?" I reply.

"Odin's beard," Dad says. He's right beside me now.

"Dad, whatever you're doing to the dragons--"

"Hiccup, you're ill." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "You four, get him back to the house."

"No," I say, "No... Dad. Please, would you just listen to me?"

He responds, but I don't know what he's saying. I can hardly hear anything anymore. I feel like I'm falling again, just like I did at Helheim's gate, but this time, two large hands catch me. I shut my eyes for what feels like a few seconds, but by the time I open them again, I'm surrounded by Vikings.

"Where are we?" I ask. I'm propped against a wall and leaning against Astrid. I barely have the strength to turn around and look through the crowd on their feet.

"We're in the arena," Astrid explains. "Toothless is here." She gently holds my head and turns it in his direction.

"Toothless," I breathe. I can see him past a sea of legs.

The adults are using eels to keep the dragons trapped in the arena. Toothless is at the front, baring his teeth, though he looks horrified.

"Dad?!" I call out. "This needs to stop!" I start to stand.

"Oh no," Astrid says, pushing down on my shoulders, "You're staying down this time."

"Ow!" My shoulders throb. "But the dragons," I tell her, "They don't deserve this."

"What are you going to do, Hiccup?" Astrid whispers, "I think even you've had enough crazy for one day."

"I'm not crazy," I say, "I have proof."

"What kind of proof?" Astrid asks. "Not that feather..."

"Not the feather," I reply. "Dad!" I yell into the arena. "I saw Mom in Helheim."

"No!" Astrid hisses, shaking me, "You were muttering while you were unconscious. You saw your mom in your dream."

"No, I saw her. In Helheim, remember? It wasn't a dream," I tell her, "It was real. And you saved me. Again. Help me, Astrid." I start to stand.

"Hiccup!" Astrid tackles me and we land on the ground.

"Oof!" I don't have the strength to get up, so I lay there with my head turned toward the adults' backs. I can hear Toothless roaring just beyond them. Then a pair of familiar boots walk into view right in front of my face. "... Dad."

"I was just trying to stop him," Astrid explains above me.

I turn my head and lift my gaze as far up as it can go. I can see Dad out of the corner of my eye. "Mom didn't die fighting," I tell him.

A chorus of "oh!"s travels through the crowd. Everyone turns to look back at us.

Dad watches me a moment. Then he turns to look at everyone. "Who told him?"

"Mom told me," I say. "She told you to tell me she went to Valhalla so I wouldn't worry."

"Who told him?!" Dad yells out.

"Ask the Elder, Dad," I tell him. I manage to push myself up on my elbow. "She knows all about this Helheim thing. Ask Astrid or Ruffnut or Tuffnut or Fishlegs. Even Snotlout. This is real, Dad. It happened."

"The dragon tried to kill you," Dad replies, "Again. They're not safe to have in the village."

"What are you going to do, then?" I ask him. "Are you going to try to kill them?"

"They'll stay here until we work out how to keep them away for good," Dad replies matter-of-factly.

"He's alive!" the Elder cries out from somewhere behind me. "He has returned from Helheim!"

Dad exhales heavily. "Gothi, we've been through this," he says.

"I left Mom for you!" I yell at Dad. "I wanted to go to Valhalla so I could be like you! Is this what I left her for?!"

Astrid lays her hand on my back as she kneels beside me.

Dad shakes his head. Then he turns around and steps through the crowd. "We need more eels!" he yells.

I can hear the Elder's footsteps pattering toward me. "Boy," she says, leaning over me, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"That and more," I reply.

"You met gods?" she asks, her expression hopeful as she steps in front of me

"Several," I tell her. "Not that it matters."

"Did any of them touch you?"

"No," I say, smirking. Then I stop and blink. "Wait. Yes. Two of them..."

"Where?" she asks.

"My shoulders."

She tugs on the hem of my shirt and pulls it up.

"Wha--?" My shirt is in my face. I sit up and tug my arms free from the sleeves and she pulls it off the rest of the way.

"Whoa," Astrid breathes. "Hiccup, what happened to you? Did I do that?"

I look down at my shoulders. They're covered with blotches of deep purple and blue.

"He's been touched by the gods!" the Elder announces.

Everyone turns back to look at me. I cross my arms over my chest and give them a short wave. "It's kind of cold," I say to the Elder, "can I have that back?"

She leaves the shirt in my lap.

Dad walks slowly out of the crowd. "Who did this to you?" he demands.

"Night Fury!" someone shouts. "Get down!"

Everyone in the crowd cowers as Toothless leaps over them. He lands in front of Spitelout, who peers at Toothless through his fingers. Toothless snuffles and looks unimpressed. Then he trots over to where I'm sitting. The Elder moves out of his way. Toothless sniffs my ear before turning his head and growling at Dad.

"It's okay, Toothless," I say gently.

Toothless licks my shoulder.

"O-Ow!" I cry out as it starts to burn.

"Don't touch him!" Dad yells, charging forward.

Then I start laughing.

Dad stops, confused. "... Hiccup?" he asks.

"It-it tickles!" I let out through guffaws.

Toothless stops licking my shoulder and looks at me.

As my laughter subsides, I look down at my slobber-covered shoulder. The bruising looks better. Lighter. The purple doesn't look so bad now. "... Huh."

"It helps," Astrid says in awe. "It helps when he licks you."

"It... helped?" Dad says.

"They can heal us," the Elder says, raising her voice, "The dragons can heal us when they lick our wounds. They must be allowed to stay."

Several members of the crowd sound like they agree.

Dad looks back at them with a scowl. Then he turns to the Elder. "They're still dangerous," he insists.

"We're Vikings," the Elder says, "It's an occupational hazard."

Gobber emerges from the crowd. "I think the Elder has a point, Stoick," he says. "And your son..."

"What about him?" Dad says defensively.

"He might have several points to make as well," Gobber says. "Maybe we ought to give them a listen."

Dad turns to me. He doesn't look like he wants to register any of this. "Son, what really happened to your shoulders?"

I press my lips together. "Dad, if I told you... If I trusted you... Would you believe me?"

Dad steps toward me.

Toothless growls and keeps his head between us.

"This has to work both ways," Dad says. "I'll trust you if you trust me."

"I can live with that," I say.

Toothless stops growling and but keeps his eyes thinned as he moves out of the way.

Dad drops down to his knee and grabs me up in a hug. He's so big and my face is in his beard, it's like trying to hold a hairy mountain.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I say.

"None of this is your fault," he says.

"I. I turned my back on Mom. I didn't want to stay with her in Helheim."

Dad takes a deep breath, then pulls away. He lifts my chin with his finger and looks me in the eye. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

#

"What are you doing here?" Gobber asks me as I step into the weapons stall. He's carrying an armful of spears.

I open my arms to take some from him.

"Thank you," he says. "But you're going right back to your house after you set those over here."

He dumps the spears in a box.

"I need something to do," I tell him. I dump the spears in with the rest.

"Why don't you try recovering?"

I sit on a stool and prop my right heel up on the seat. "I've been in bed all day," I say as I hug my knee. "Again. I'm pretty sure I'm recovered by now."

"You're still pale."

"You can tell that by firelight?"

"You're practically glowing," he says.

"I'm fine," I assure him. "I just needed to get out."

"And you thought a weapons stall would be a relaxing jaunt?"

"It's like a second home to me," I say, "Oh, the memories. Pricking my fingers on sharpened swords, falling over from the weight of hammers, tripping over bolas..."

"All right, all right," he says opening his hands to me. "You can stay." He turns to examine a sword's blade with his eye.

I take a deep breath. "I wanted to thank you, Gobber."

"I didn't do anything for you," he says lightly, without looking up.

"You got my dad to listen," I say. "That's more than some people can get from him. And by some people, I mean me."

"Well..." he says, shrugging. "You and the Elder worked on him quite a bit before I got a word in."

"I can't believe he believes me. I can't believe you believe me."

"It's quite a story," Gobber says, "But I can't doubt what I saw your dragon do to your shoulder."

"And the whole thing with Helheim?"

"The bruises got there somehow..." Gobber sets the sword down and looks at me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," I say, "Why?"

"Hiccup!" Astrid says behind me. She runs to the entrance of the stall, then looks between me and Gobber.

"I'll just go check on something in the back," Gobber says, somehow making a swift getaway.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" Astrid asks me.

"I'm okay," I say.

"Good," she says. Then she steps forward and smacks my face with her hand.

"Ow! Geez!"

"That's for scaring me!" she declares.

I rub my cheek. "We're going to have to work on this part of our relationsh--"  
   
She yanks on the front of my shirt and shoves her mouth against mine.

"Mmf." When she pulls back, I let out a breath. "Huh," I say. "That part's fine."

"Well, that's for everything else," she says softly, releasing my shirt.

"You saved my life, Astrid," I tell her. Our faces are so close together. "I owe you."

"You know it," she replies. She steps back and crosses her arms. "So, this hero of the gods thing. Do you think you have to do it alone?"

"I... don't know," I say. "I guess we'll just have to see."

"Well, you know where to find me," she says.

"I do. Thanks." A strong gust of wind blows into the stall. I shiver, but I welcome it. "That's nothing compared to Helheim."

"This must feel like a good summer day compared to that place."

"This is home. That's good enough for me."

Astrid and I look into each other's eyes for a few seconds, then she looks down. "I hit you a lot."

"Not really," I reply. "I'll survive."

"I mean, when we pulled you out of the water. I kept hitting you and yelling at you, but you wouldn't wake up."

 "That helped me. Thank you."

"You just lay there, and there wasn't anything else to do--"

"Astrid."

"We just left you in mid-air, I thought for sure--"

"Astrid." I reach out and grab her arm.

She looks up at me. Her expression makes my chest hurt.

"Why are you so sad?" I whisper. I lift my hand from her arm to touch her cheek. "You trusted me. You saved me. Any other Viking would be lucky to have you as..."

She tilts her head and lifts her eyebrow. "As...?"

"As a friend," I finish, dropping my arm.

Astrid uncrosses her arms as anger crosses her expression. She steps forward and I can't help flinching. She presses her lips against mine, just for a second. Then she pulls her face back an inch.

"What's that for?" I ask softly.

"For being an idiot," she replies. The corners of her mouth twitch. Then she wraps her arms around my neck, and pulls me to her chest. She props her chin on top of my head as she holds me.

I wrap my arms around her; I barely register that it isn't like holding a rock at all. It's like holding someone soft and warm. It's how I imagine it should be.

Astrid lets out one soft sob, then she doesn't emit any sound at all.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to you readers out there! I appreciate the hits. =)
> 
> If you're interested, I am five chapters into a sequel, so be on the lookout.

As I ride with Astrid on the back of her Nadder, people make the effort to call out my name and wave. I nod to them and wave back as we pass.

"Don't mess it up this time," Astrid tells me. "Everything's fine with you and Toothless, now, right?"

"It'll be weird," I reply, "But I think we'll stay on their good sides from now on."

"Hiccup!" Mumbles yells out as she runs up to us. "Hiccup, are you really okay now?"

"Yes, Mumbles. I'm really okay."

"You're not a zombie or anything?" Mumbles says, squinting at me critically as she follows us.

"So not a zombie," I tell her. "I don't think Astrid would let a zombie ride her dragon. She's much smarter than that."

"Okay," Mumbles says. "Can I ride Toothless with you tomorrow?"

"Ah..." I bare my teeth. "We'll see?"

"Hiccup!" Astrid yells.

Mumbles gasps. "Hiccup says I can ride with him!" she calls, running to her mother. "Hiccup says I can ride with him!"

"That wasn't a total positive!" I call out as Hunder glares at me. "Astrid can we go faster?" I ask between my teeth.

Astrid lets out a huff and pats the Nadder's neck.

After Astrid drops me off at my house, I find my dad inside, sitting on the bed.

"Where did you go?" he asks, standing.

"I went to see Gobber. And Astrid gave me a ride back. Don't you have chieftain-y things to do...?"

"I'm taking the night off," he says.

"Oh."

"I'm going to sleep here," he goes on, gesturing to the floor beside the bed, "To make sure you get a good night's rest. And in case you need anything."

"Oh. Dad, you don't have to do that."

"Actually, I do."

"No, Dad, really--"

"Hiccup."

I sigh. "Okay. But can we not tell anyone about this? Ever?"

"It'll be like when you were a boy. One of those sleeping parties you were never invited to."

"Oh, yeah," I reply with a nod, "Lovely childhood memory."

Someone knocks on the door.

Dad looks at me expectantly.

"I guess I'll get that," I say. A thought creeps into my head as I turn to the door, but it doesn't come into fruition until I see who's standing on the other side. "Fishlegs? Snotlout? Tuffnut?"

"I want a spot by the fire," Snotlout says, stepping past me, "I claim the spot by the fire."

"My sister wanted to come," Tuffnut says as he walks in, "But this is kind of a man-only thing."

"I think I found the father," Fishlegs says as he bounces in. "I think it's a Nadder!"

"That'll be... interesting," I say as I close the door. "And what are you all doing here?"

"It's like I said," Dad says, "One of those sleeping parties--"

"Oh gods, save me," I let slip as my shoulders sag.

"We're here for you in case you need us," Snotlout says. "And we won't disappear this time."

"All right, boys, get settled in," Dad says. He has somehow produced blankets that I never even knew we had.

"Don't tell me," I say, "Gobber's on his way?"

"Don't be silly," Dad says, "He snores."

I blink. "How do you even kno--"

Toothless starts to growl.

"I want this spot," Snotlout says, pointing to the area Toothless is guarding with his body.

"Toothless," I say, "Let Snotlout have that spot."

Toothless thins his eyes.

"Come on," I say, "it's only for one night."

Toothless shakes his head, eyeing Snotlout.

"Toothless," I urge him. "You can sleep next to me."

Slowly, Toothless moves out of the way.

Once everyone's settled in, I change into my sleep clothes and sit on the bed, looking around at the faces staring back at me.

"Are you just going to look at us, or are you going to sleep?" Tuffnut asks.

"Okay then," I say. "Guess I'll just. Lie here. And... sleep. Are you guys sure you want to stay the night?"

"Yes," everyone snaps.

"All right... All right." I drop down onto my back and stare at the ceiling. "This is going to be an interesting night."

I close my eyes. Everything's quiet except for the sound of the fire. I open my eyes.

"You guys can talk and stuff," I tell them. "It's okay."

"But talk quietly," Dad warns them.

"Sure," Tuffnut says.

I close my eyes again. Tuffnut starts to say something, but I don't catch it. Instead, I find myself on Toothless, sitting with him in a suspiciously familiar cold cave.

"I thought we were done with this for now," I tell Toothless.

Toothless flicks his ear and steps forward carefully. We peer out around the corner of one of the cave's sharp turns. Modgud is standing, facing us. She doesn't see us though. She's with a man who is shirtless, and who has no right hand.

"We did it," he says gently. He gently traces his fingers over Modgud's cheek. "Thank you. I owe you everything. Now we have the hero we need."

Modgud looks in our direction. I freeze and hold my breath. Then her gaze slips up to the man's face. She smiles. "Anything for you, my sweet."

Their faces draw closer together. And I think they're kissing.

I wake up with a jerk. It's dark, except for the fire. I sit up and look around. Everyone's asleep. Dad is right next to my bed on the floor, tangled up with one of Toothless's legs and his tail. I grab my book from under my pillow and flip it open so I can catch the moment.

Just as I press my drawing stick to the paper, a thought comes to me. Without meaning to, I say it:

"... Tyr."

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my beta reader, Backroads.


End file.
